We request funds to support the 6th Biannual Conference on Cell Death, to be held at Angra dos Reis, Brazil June 02-05 2006. The theme of the conference will be "Cell Cycle and Cell Death in Aging, Cancer and Immune Related Diseases". Programmed cell death and apoptosis are important in several disciplines, including immunology, oncology, neurology, infectious diseases, cardiac infarct and stroke, reproductive biology, teratology, and environmental medicine. A major goal of our society is to maintain a fruitful and synergistic dialog among these disciplines. In this conference we will focus on cell cycle alterations and the mechanisms of cell death induction and survival. Our meeting-associated training course will introduce the main recent findings on Cell Cycle, Cell Death and Aging. We will address and correlate the mechanisms of cell cycle and cell death pathways with age-related pathologies, such as neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, cell cycle and cancer. We will maintain focus on the potential of these findings for therapy and the relationship of laboratory to clinical data. Sensitivity to apoptosis is frequently tightly linked to both cell cycle and the presence or absence of growth factors, both of which vary strongly with age; and the ability of cells to die only at appropriate physiological times is a major factor of both proliferative and degenerative diseases of aging. Our record of equality in ethnic and gender distribution among speakers is excellent (estimated 1/3 this year), as is our accommodation for specific needs. We will take direct steps to continue and enhance this record. We also have an excellent record of supporting and featuring upcoming junior scientists at these meetings. This conference will be a unique opportunity to gather scientists from the USA, Europe and South America. We have published 2 Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences from these meetings, and the last meeting served as a basis for the organization of the second edition of When Cells Die (Wiley-Liss). We expect that this meeting will lead to further publications. We are currently negotiating publication arrangements. NIH funds will be used to support speakers and facilities. Future meetings in France and China are planned. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]